In a wireless network, one way to provide higher aggregate throughput as the density and/or demands of users increases is to increase the number of wireless access points (APs) within a region and have each wireless AP cover a smaller service area or cell. However, as the sizes of the service areas decrease, other problems may arise that could actually have a negative impact on the throughput of the network. For example, because the service areas are smaller, there will typically be less distance between co-channel cells within the network. Thus, a device in the service area of a first AP may be able to detect a packet transmitted by a device in the service area of a second, co-channel AP in the network. If the packet transmitted by the device in the service area of the second AP includes a medium reservation request, then the device in the service area of the first AP may honor the medium reservation request (e.g., refrain from transmitting for a predetermined duration, etc.) regardless of whether or not there is a potential for harmful interference. By honoring the reservation request when the chances of creating harmful interference are small, aggregate throughput in the network may be reduced.